Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures edged higher on Tuesday, consolidating above a 17-month low as the market assessed mixed growing conditions in the U.S. Plains and awaited further direction from U.S. government crop forecasts.
Prices were rebounding after dipping below $7 a bushel, Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa, said, adding that uncertainty over an extension of the Black Sea export corridor helped support prices (all figures US$).
“I think it’s adding a little risk premium back for that,” Roose said.
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The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) closed up 2-3/4 cents at $6.98 a bushel, after earlier sliding to its weakest level since September 2021.
CBOT soybeans settled 13-1/2 cents lower at $15.15-1/2 a bushel and corn closed down 2-3/4 cents at $6.34-1/4 a bushel.
The wheat market has recently been pressured by Russian export competition and expectations that a wartime grain corridor from Ukraine will be extended beyond this month.
Ukraine has started online talks with partners on extending the Black Sea agreement, a senior Ukrainian government source said on Tuesday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Wednesday to discuss an extension.
“The decline in Russian prices is weighing on the whole international export market,” consultancy Agritel said, adding traders were nonetheless awaiting progress in discussions to extend the Black Sea shipping deal.
Weather forecasts projecting showers in some U.S. wheat belts have also curbed prices.
But weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data on Monday showing a decline in winter wheat conditions in the top U.S. producing state, Kansas, kept the focus on persistent drought in part of the U.S. Plains.
Soybeans remained underpinned by drought in Argentina, where heat is seen limiting any benefit to crops from light showers.
CBOT soymeal futures were lower after setting new contract highs.
Traders are awaiting USDA’s March supply and demand report (WASDE) on Wednesday for an update on Brazilian crops, which may help offset losses in Argentina.
— Reporting for Reuters by Cassandra Garrison in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
